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Quantum Computers: Curse or Blessing for IT Security?

Cyber threats are rising inexorably around the world. Millions of private households and hundreds of thousands of companies are affected.

Now cybercriminals are able to circumvent security measures faster and more successfully than ever before, which suggests that users of IT and the Internet are far from being sufficiently protected from various threats such as malware, phishing and ransomware.

Rapidly proliferating malware-infected websites and tens of thousands of malicious files are the order of the day.

Phishing attacks account for approximately 80% of all security incidents.

While a secure infrastructure is becoming increasingly indispensable for companies, and the necessary technical and organizational defensive measures are also usually taken, the"human" risk factor of inadequate handling of IT and the Internet remains.

Additional attack surfaces for cybercriminals have also been created by the increased home office activities in recent years.

In addition, IT attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated. Cybercriminals are using advanced techniques to make their attacks more efficient.

The interaction of so-called hacker groups, also involving state actors, has intensified.

Thus, cybercriminals are finding increasingly attractive ways to exploit existing security gaps and circumvent security measures.

Although spending on IT prevention and data breaches has surged in recent years, there is still a huge need to catch up on IT security, and there is still an urgent call for risk management to be taken even more seriously.

The entire business community, including many small and mid-sized companies in particular, are faced with the decision of risking data loss and IT security breaches or acting efficiently with an eye to the future.

Agile risk management and corresponding strategies to expand and enhance IT and thus counter growing and, in particular, new threat scenarios are coming to the fore. This also means that more money has to be spent on IT protection and corresponding budgets have to be formed.

Quantum computing is changing the world of technology.

A look into the IT future shows that both upcoming generations of computers and technologies as well as security products will be subject to drastic change.

However, it can be assumed that this change will not leave cybercrime idle, which will require permanent adaptation of cybersecurity.

It is known that due to upcoming super-fast computers, the encryption or algorithms that are still effective today will no longer be effective in a few years and will have to be replaced by new methods.

Thus, at the latest with the implementation of quantum computing, IT security will also be subject to other laws.

However, the IT industry will still need a considerable amount of time to implement quantum technology that can be mass-produced, so companies and private households don’t currently need to worry about their IT security. There is still time to plan for the coming changes.

As is well known, quantum technology has, among other things, the property of surpassing many times the computing power of current computer systems.

This solves certain IT challenges, such as large-scale simulations, optimization and classification problems, and processing algorithms for big data, much more efficiently.

Quantum technology achieves benefits on many levels, but requires significant effort for cybersecurity to prevent negative consequences.

Certainly, with the use of quantum technology and the soaring performance of computer systems, the development of IT security will also be able to keep pace.

If powerful quantum computers come onto the market faster than, for example, the realization of quantum-safe encryption techniques, this would pose great dangers to IT and thus for the entire economy.

If quantum technology also achieves viable solutions to quantum key distribution, this will have a positive impact on cybersecurity and on the use of communication networks, and it would be achieved that all security-related aspects are taken into account even in the quantum age.

IT security will continue to be controllable in the future.

Which threats will be relevant for the economy and private households in the upcoming "quantum age" is difficult to estimate at the moment.

However, it is clear that more and more processes are being shifted to the Internet and that security, especially of digital communication, is increasingly becoming a critical issue.

Presumably, the threat of cybercrime and data theft in companies and private households will develop to the same extent as the increase in digitization.

In the future, it will be necessary to more closely monitor the impact of quantum computing, including both offensive and defensive cybersecurity applications and methodologies.

This will be one of the most controversial topics in terms of future IT security theories.

Of course, cybersecurity tools based on quantum computing and artificial intelligence are now no longer mere visions of the future.

Computer and IT users will continue to be armed against new types of attacks on their PCs and on the Internet in the future through the permanent "up-to-date alignment" of IT security.

Specific and innovative security solutions will be available for the economy and for companies in the form of promising cybersecurity technologies.

It goes without saying that ALPEIN Software SWISS AG, as a specialist for IT security products, permanently follows all changes and future developments in the entire IT sector.

Especially in cybersecurity, ALPEINSOFT will pursue the successive adaptation of products to all new conditions and technologies, such as quantum computing.

All ALPEIN’s customers and product users will continue to be safe and well-positioned.

If you have any questions about IT security, and especially if you need specific, company-related discussions, you can reach our specialist through the contact form on the website or by email contact@alpeinsoft.ch.